What have you been working on in 2020?

Lots of things this year.

I spent the last few months slowly building a pair of class A monoblocks - about 60 watts per channel based on the FirstWatt F5 design with lots of embellishments. Just finishing them now - first sound test was last weekend.

Finished the acoustic treatments to my listening room with drapes and lots of GIK panels - ceiling cloud, art panels with scatter plates on the side walls, bass absorber/diffusors behind the speakers. 

Built a Roon ROCK server in a fanless case, now with a linear PS. 

Added an EtherRegen with LPS. Upgraded ethernet cabling to Cat8.

Replaced my Yggdrasil with a Denafrips Terminator. 

Added Qobuz to the mix (along with Tidal through Roon). Listening to a LOT of music since my home office is at the back of my listening room. 

I'm not experimenting with direct USB connection between my Roon server and the DAC vs using my Bryston BDP-2 connected via AES/EBU. The jury is still out, but I'm leaning toward selling my Bryston streamer. 

ErikI believe you helped me with loading the software on the RPI and mentioned you had a squeezebox type of setup at one point.

@ovinewar
I did have a SB setup.  I tried PiCore as well.  They all pale to Roon.  At the same time, the PC requirements for the Roon core are much more severe, and there is no ARM/Pi version.

What I wish I had was a Pi based Roon streamer that has a touch screen. Right now I have a Pi end point that works great, but I kind of miss seeing the music scrolling like I did on the Squeezebox Touch.


Best,
Erik

Hi Erik! Mundorf MKP capacitors replacing the rectangular pink caps on the Parts Express YuanJing 2 x 68w LM3886 and NE5532 board makes a big difference. Better yet, run you audio into the second cap and skip the NE5532 stage completely. DIY forever!

After reading (AudioXpress July 2020) about the new amp module (1ET400A) from Purifi Audio in Denmark (by the same fellows that built the nCore amps), I bought their EVAL1 package made for evaluation by potential purchasers (like NAD and others) consisting of two Class D amp modules (400 wpc @ 4 ohms, very low noise & distortion, unmeasurably low output impedance) and a front end with protection circuitry, extra gain, and input & output jacks. You have to build a suitable power supply to use it. Got it right on the second try. The amp is getting sensational reviews and I must say it's the best I've heard. Great specs and performance! You can own it for about $1000 with the power supply (you must build). Extremely good.

Linkwitz LX521-4 speakers, DAC upgrades (SMSL cute little red rectangle), lots of music, speaker builds & mods, ukulele groups, performing, and being grateful for a wonderful wife and church involvement fill the rest of my life. Keep smiling!

Holy crap slaw that musta cost a small fortune! Guess it must still be the best around after all.

@skyscraper

Though I do not own a 507MkII, my close friend does. A power cord can and does make a very hearable difference. We demo’d an older Pangea 9, Nordost Blue Heaven, and Nordost Heimdall 2. It got better as you moved up the line. I’d say the Pangea was not worth the money though because there was little improvement and the sound was still grainy. The Blue Heaven makes a nice difference at $330 but the Heimdall 2 was much better. If you can swing it, or something comparable, that’d be the one to go with. Another power cord that is even better for nearly similar money to the Heimdall is the Isotek Optimum. The Isotek is better value for money to me.